Method, apparatus and system for transmitting and receiving data packets

ABSTRACT

A method and an apparatus for routing data packets. The solution in a communication network including a set of nodes, storing information regarding nodes of the network; and when transmitting a data packet to a destination node in the network, determining and including in the data packet the recipient identification; determining and including in the data packet the direction of the destination node in the network; determining and including in the data packet a hop count indicator indicating the number of node-to-node hops to the destination node; setting in the data packet the transmission direction indicator equal to a value corresponding to direction down and transmitting the packet.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This patent application claims priority to Finnish Patent ApplicationNo. 20125807, filed 18 Jul. 2012, the disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD

Disclosed embodiments relate to a method, an apparatus and a system forrouting data packets. In particular, disclosed embodiments relate torouting data packets in a network comprising low memory resource nodes.

BACKGROUND

The following description of background art may include insights,discoveries, understandings or disclosures, or associations togetherwith disclosures not known to the relevant art prior to the presentdisclosed embodiments but provided by the disclosed embodiments. Some ofsuch contributions may be specifically pointed out below, whereas othersuch contributions will be apparent from their context.

In modern communication and computer networks, data exchange betweenprograms and computers is a vital element. Different programs, computersand processors exchange data without human intervention. This kind ofcommunication is usually called machine-to-machine (M2M) communications.

An example of a network technology where M2M communication is widelyapplied is a low-power wireless network, such as an IEEE 802.15.4 basedembedded and sensor network. More recently, as machine-to-machinedevices have become IP enabled, systems have become more open by usingIP as a networking protocol.

In typical M2M networks the devices or nodes connected to the networks,communicate with each other. Networks may have a connection to theInternet or other external network, and in such a case the nodes maycommunicate with devices outside the M2M network.

For the nodes to be able to communicate, a routing protocol is required.Routing protocols and techniques can divided very roughly into twogroups: those utilizing a storing mode and those utilizing source orflow routing techniques. A storing mode requires that each deviceparticipating in routing maintains a routing table of downward routes.This requires the devices to have relatively large memory capabilities.In source routing, routing information is attached each transmittedpacket. This reduces the payload of the packets.

SUMMARY

Disclosed embodiments provide a solution for routing data packets.

At least one disclosed embodiment provides an apparatus, in a firstcommunication network comprising a set of apparatuses, the apparatuscomprising at least one processor; and at least one memory includingcomputer program code, the at least one memory and the computer programcode configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatusat least to perform: control communication with apparatusesoperationally connected to the apparatus by transmitting and receivingdata packets, the data packets comprising a recipient identification, atransmission direction indicator, and depending on the transmissiondirection indicator, a hop count indicator.

Another disclosed embodiment provides an apparatus, in a firstcommunication network comprising a set of nodes, the apparatuscomprising at least one processor; and at least one memory includingcomputer program code, the at least one memory and the computer programcode configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatusat least to perform: store information regarding nodes of thecommunication network; and when transmitting a data packet to adestination node in the communication network, determine and include inthe data packet the recipient identification; determine and include inthe data packet the direction of the destination node in the network;determine and include in the data packet a hop count indicatorindicating the number of node-to-node hops to the destination node; setand include in the data packet the transmission direction indicatorequal to a value corresponding to direction down; transmit the packet.

Yet another disclosed embodiment provides a method, in an apparatus,comprising controlling communication with one or more apparatuses;transmitting and receiving data packets comprising a recipientidentification, a transmission direction indicator, and depending on thetransmission direction indicator, a hop count indicator.

A further disclosed embodiment provides a method, in an apparatus in afirst communication network comprising a set of nodes, comprisingstoring information regarding nodes of the communication network; andwhen transmitting a data packet to a destination node in thecommunication network, determining and including in the data packet therecipient identification; determining and including in the data packetthe direction of the destination node in the network; determining andincluding in the data packet a hop count indicator indicating the numberof node-to-node hops to the destination node; setting and including inthe data packet the transmission direction indicator equal to a valuecorresponding to direction down; transmitting the packet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Disclosed embodiments are described below, by way of example only, withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which

FIG. 1 illustrates a simple example of the tree-like structure of a M2Mnetwork;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are flow charts illustrating an example of aregistration procedure of a node;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are flow charts illustrating transmitting and receivinga data packet;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are flow charts illustrating transmitting and receivinga data packet;

FIG. 5 illustrates a simplified example of the transmission of a datapacket in the tree-like structure of a M2M network; and

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate examples of apparatuses.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS

The following embodiments are exemplary. Although the specification mayrefer to “an”, “one”, or “some” embodiment(s) in several locations, thisdoes not necessarily mean that each such reference is to the sameembodiment(s), or that the feature only applies to a single embodiment.Single features of different embodiments may also be combined to provideother embodiments.

Data exchange between programs and computers is a vital element.Different programs, computers and processors may exchange data withouthuman intervention. Different networks and protocols are used indifferent environments. On the Internet, the Transmission ControlProtocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) is the basic protocol used incommunication. TCP/IP takes care of assembling and disassembling thedata to be transmitted in packets. IP handles the addressing so thatpackets are delivered to the correct destination. Above TCP/IP, theHypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is used as a client/server protocol.A program may send an HTTP request to a server which responds withanother HTTP message.

Low-power wireless networks, such as IEEE 802.15.4 based embedded andsensor networks, have extremely limited resources for transmittingpackets. These networks are very energy-efficient, and the chiptechnology is cheap. For this reason the technology is making its way toembedded devices very quickly for automation, measurement, tracking andcontrol, for example.

State-of-the-art routing algorithms meant for normal backbone wirednetworks or ad-hoc wireless mesh protocols meant for high-performanceWireless Local Area Networks (WLAN, WiFi), are not suitable forextremely constrained networks such as IEEE 802.15.4 where noderesources are very limited, or networks must scale to large numbers ofnodes.

In many cases, low-power wireless networks and other M2M networksresemble a tree-like structure where an access point is connected to agiven number of network nodes. The access point takes care of theconnections of the network to external networks such as the Internet.

FIG. 1 illustrates a simple example of the tree-like structure of a M2Mnetwork. The network comprises an access point 100 and a set of nodes102 connected to the access point either directly or via other nodes.The connections within the networks (between the nodes and between theaccess point and the nodes) are in many networks realized typically withwireless connections but they may be wired connections as well. Thetransmission direction from a node towards the access point is usuallyreferred as up direction and the opposite transmission direction as downdirection.

Those nodes 104, 106, 108, 110 and 112 having more than one connectionin the down directions may be referred as knots. In general, any nodewhich receives data packets from another node and transmits the packetsonwards may be called a router.

For the nodes to be able to communicate with each other, the accesspoint and the external networks, some kind of routing protocol isrequired.

Basically, there are two types of routing protocols in use. Theprotocols of the first type require that each device participating inrouting maintains a routing table of downward routes. The drawback ofthis is the amount of data memory that is required from the device tomaintain the routing table information. A typical entry (with forexample IPv6 addressing) in the table requires approximately 20 bytes ofmemory. One fairly common workaround for this problem is to store therouting table information in persistent memory such as flash (eitheron-chip or external). However, the problem with on-chip flash is thatthe access time to that storage is typically significantly slower thanstandard RAM which leads into reduced performance. Additionally commonsemiconductor technologies used to manufacture the on-chip flash limitthe number of write operations to a single flash segment so that thelifetime of the part would be prohibitively reduced if this typicallyvery volatile routing information would be stored on it. Typicallyprotocols of this type are efficient in small to medium size networks.

The protocols of the second type, which may denotes a source routing,require that routing information is attached each transmitted packet.This reduces the payload of the packets. Where these protocols can beefficient in medium sized networks their shortcoming is in very deepnetworks. A very deep network could be one where the number of hops fromthe access point to the furthermost device (leaf of the network) issignificantly larger than 10. With standard source routing eachadditional hop on a downward (from access point towards the edge of thenetwork) will increase the routing overhead by at least 16 bytes (thusdecreasing the available application payload). If the connections arerealized with wireless connections, some wireless technologies have ahard limit to the maximum transmission unit (MTU). The increasing headersize will lead into situation where even a small application payloadpacket would have to be fragmented on higher layers (such as on the IPlayer). This will significantly reduce the overall performance(throughput) and scalability of the network. Additionally thefragmentation does not mitigate in any way the increased RAM consumptionin routing devices caused by the larger header size (a routing devicemust be capable of storing and reassembling of all the fragments of asingle packet). In fact the fragmentation makes the problem worse byadding more overhead information to the headers.

In at least one disclosed embodiment, the wireless links in the networkmay be realized by using IEEE 802.15.4, with Internet Protocol v6 IPv6(6LowPAN), IEEE 802.15.4 with ZigBee, Bluetooth or Bluetooth Ultra LowPower (ULP), Low Power Wireless Local Area Network, proprietarylow-power radio, cellular radio system or any other system suitable forlow-power transmission. IEEE stands for the Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers.

In another disclosed embodiment, devices or apparatuses of the networkcommunicate by transmitting and receiving data packets, the data packetscomprising a recipient identification, a transmission directionindicator, and depending on the transmission direction indicator a hopcount indicator.

Disclosed embodiments can be applied to virtually any networks and maybe integrated into existing routing protocols as an enhancement oralternative mode of operation. The proposed solution is agnostic to theactual method how the network topology information is determined anddelivered.

To be able to communicate with the network a node registers itself tothe network. When a node is set up, it is configured to request fromunderlying routing protocol components the best possible parent. In thiscontext, a parent means the next device towards the network access pointin the network topology. As the proposed method does not take any partin determining the best path towards the access point it can beconsidered fully agnostic to the specifics of the underlying physicallink technology. After receiving from the underlying routing protocolcomponents the next hop towards the access point the node is capable ofcommunicating with the access point. The full bi-directionalcommunication capability is achieved when the node sends a registrationmessage to the network access point.

FIG. 2A is a flow chart illustrating a simplified example of theregistration procedure. The procedure starts at step 200.

In step 202, the node determines the nearest or best node towards theaccess point of the network. Typically this information may be obtainedfrom the underlying routing protocol components such as from the IPv6Neighbor Discovery protocol in IPv6 networks. For example, referring toFIG. 1, the parent of node 106 is node 104.

Regarding terminology, the transmission direction which is towards theaccess point of the network may be denoted as direction “up”. Thetransmission direction which is away from the access point of thenetwork may be denoted as direction “down”.

Another point regarding terminology, a node of the network which isnearest in the direction away from the access point (direction “down”)may be denoted a child. A node may have one or more child nodes. Forexample, referring to FIG. 1, the node 104 has two child nodes, 106 and114. Node 114 in turn has one child node 108. The nodes having more thanone child nodes may be called knots.

In step 204, the node transmits a registration message to the accesspoint. In at least one disclosed embodiment, the message comprises theidentification of the apparatus, a lifetime indicator of the informationin the message, an identification of the node which is next in the uptransmission direction (i.e., the parent) and a transmission directionindicator equaling a value corresponding to direction up. Theidentification may in theory be of any type and size. As an example,IPv6 addresses have been successfully used as node identifiers. Thelifetime indicator indicates the access point how long the transmittedinformation is valid. The transmission direction indicator is used inthe routing procedure as will be explained below.

The process ends in step 206.

FIG. 2B is a flow chart illustrating a simplified example of theregistration procedure from point of view of the access point. Theprocedure starts at step 210.

In step 212, the access point receives a registration message from anode.

In step 214, the access point is configured to determine theidentification of the sender of the registration message.

In step 216, the access point is configured to determine the directionof the sender of the registration message in the network. The structureof the network may be such that there is more than one branch of thenetwork leaving from the access point. Referring to FIG. 1, there aretwo branches leaving form the access point 100. The directioncorresponds to the identification of the first node in the branch. Theaccess point may determine the identification from the registrationmessage as the message includes the identification of the last node thatforwarded the message to the access point.

In step 218, the access point is configured to determine the lifetimeindicator from the registration message.

In step 220, the access point determines the hop count to the sender.The hop count is the number of hops starting from the access point thatmust be performed in the network from a node to node to reach the senderof the registration message. For example, referring to FIG. 1 the hopcount to reach node 112 from the access point is 5.

The process ends in step 222.

In at least one disclosed embodiment, the access point stores a list ofnodes, a routing table, where each entry represents a destination nodethat has reported its parent. The hop count may be determined using thefollowing procedure:

1. A node is browsed from this list.

2. A parent of the node is retrieved from the list.

3. Step 2 is repeated also for parent's parent until the last parent isthe access point itself.

With this mechanism, it is possible to calculate the hop of any givennode, even though the node itself doesn't know its exact hop count whenregistering. It should be noted that the above procedure is merely anexample of a method to determine hop length.

In the network of FIG. 1, there are basically following kinds ofcommunication: nodes transmitting to other nodes, nodes transmitting toaccess point or an external network, and access point transmitting tonodes or access point transmitting to an external network.

When nodes are transmitting to other nodes, all traffic is directedfirst to the access point as the nodes are not aware of the networkstructure or the location of the other nodes.

FIG. 3A is a flow chart illustrating a simplified example of a nodetransmitting a data packet either to another node or to the accesspoint. The procedure starts at step 300.

In step 302, the node determines the recipient identification. As anexample, IPv6 address may be used as identifiers.

In step 304, the node sets a transmission direction indicator equaling avalue corresponding to direction up.

In step 306, the node transmits the data packet including the recipientid and the transmission direction indicator.

The process ends in step 308.

FIG. 3B is a flow chart illustrating a simplified example of a nodereceiving a data packet either from another node or from an accesspoint. The procedure starts at step 320.

In step 322, the node receives a data packet. As connections between thenodes are typically realized with wireless connection the node is notdirectly aware from which node or from which direction the data packetarrived.

In step 324, the node is configured to determine the transmissiondirection indicator of the data packet. The indicator may typically havetwo possible values, a value corresponding to direction up and anothervalue corresponding to direction down.

In step 326, the node determines whether it is the recipient of the datapacket. If it is, it processes the data if required and the process endsin step 344.

In step 328, the node determines, if the transmission directionindicator value corresponds to direction down, whether the hop countindicator equals zero. If this is the case the data packet is discardedin step 330 and the process ends in step 344.

In step 332, the node checks whether the transmission directionindicator equals the value corresponding to direction up. If so; ittransmits the data packet forward in step 334 and the process ends instep 344. The recipient id and transmission direction indicator valuesremain the same in the transmission compared to the received datapacket.

Otherwise, the node reduces the value of the hop count indicator by onein step 336.

In step 338, where the transmission direction indicator equals a valuecorresponding to direction down, it is determined whether the number ofchild nodes of the node is greater than one. If this is not the case,the data packet is transmitted in step 340 and the process ends in step344. Compared to the received data packet, the recipient id andtransmission direction indicator values remain the same but the hopcount has reduced by one.

If the number of child nodes was greater than one, the node broadcaststhe data packet in step 342. Compared to the received data packet, therecipient id and transmission direction indicator values remain the samebut the hop count has reduced by one.

The process ends in step 344.

The difference between broadcast and regular transmission is that abroadcasted packet comprises information that the packet is to bereceived by everyone who receives the transmission.

In at least one disclosed embodiment, a node stores only limitedinformation regarding surrounding nodes of the network. For example, anode may store the id of its parent and up to two child nodes. If it hasmore than two child nodes, it has no information regarding their ids. Ifa node has only one child and a data packet is transmitted with adirection indicator value corresponding to direction down the node mayindicate in a Mac layer field of the data packet that the recipient ofthe transmission is the child.

Thus in at least one disclosed embodiment, in a situation where arouting node has multiple child nodes, i.e. the node forms a knot in thenetwork topology, an alternative mechanism to route packets is proposed.The up packets are forwarded as before but a different procedure isproposed for down packets. The headers of data packets do not containany information as to which one of the child nodes they should beforwarded to. This is why the proposed method resorts into deliveringthe packet to all of the routing node's neighbors. As the delivery canbe implemented using a low level broadcast message the packet might bereceived also by the parent device of the routing node. It is howeversimple for the parent device to drop the packet immediately based on thedirection bit information and the source address of the packet. If thedirection is down and the source is not the parent of a node the nodehas to drop the packet. The child nodes of the routing node however donot have any means to filter this packet. Thus the packet is forwardedto all the child nodes of these child nodes.

FIG. 4A is a flow chart illustrating a simplified example of an accesspoint receiving a data packet from a node. The procedure starts at step400.

In step 402, the access point receives a data packet.

In step 404, the access point determines the recipient identification.If it determines that it is the recipient of the data packet, itprocesses the data if required and the process ends in step 412.

Otherwise, in step 406, the access point is configured to determine ifthe data packet is addressed to external network. If so, it transmits408 the packet to the network and the process ends in step 412.

If the data packet is addressed to a node in the network under theaccess point the access point is configured to transmit the data packetto the recipient in step 410 and the process ends in step 412.

FIG. 4B is a flow chart illustrating a simplified example of an accesspoint transmitting a data packet to a node. The procedure starts at step420. The process is similar when the access point forwards a data packetit has received as described with FIG. 4A or when the data packet isgenerated by the access point.

In step 422, the access point determines the recipient identification.

In step 424, the access point determines the direction of the recipientin the network. The structure of the network may be such that there aremore than one branches of the network leaving from the access point.Referring to FIG. 1, there are two branches leaving from the accesspoint 100. The direction corresponds to the identification of the firstnode in the branch where the node is located. In at least one disclosedembodiment, this information is stored in the routing table kept by theaccess point.

In step 426, the access point determines the hop count to the recipient.The hop count is the number of hops starting from the access point thatmust be performed in the network from a node to node to reach therecipient of the data packet. In at least one disclosed embodiment, thisinformation is stored in the routing table kept by the access point.

In step 428, the access point sets a transmission direction indicatorequaling a value corresponding to direction down.

In step 430, the access point transmits the data packet including therecipient id, hop count and the transmission direction indicator to thedirection of the recipient in the network.

The process ends in step 432.

FIG. 5 illustrates a simplified example of the transmission of a datapacket in the tree-like structure of a M2M network. The networkcomprises an access point 100 and a set of nodes 102. In this example,the access point 100 transmits a data packet to the node 500. Priortransmission the access point determines the hop count and the directionof node 500 in the network. In this case the hop count is 6 and thetransmission should be directed to node 104 which is the first node inthe branch where node 500 is located.

The access point transmits the data packet 502. The node 104 receivesthe packet, determines that it is not the recipient and forwards thedata packet. As the number of child nodes of the node 104 is larger thanone, the node 104 broadcasts the data packet so that all its neighborsreceive the data packet, including the access point. The access pointrejects the data packet as the packet has the transmission directionindicator equal to down. The data packet is received by nodes 106 and114.

In FIG. 5, the correct path of the packet is designated with solidarrows and redundant path with dotted arrows. Each node that receivesthe data packet determines whether it is addressed to the node and ifnot forwards the packet either by transmitting or by broadcasting thepacket. Thus, the data packet is transmitted on multiple routes of whichonly one is correct. However, in before each transmission or broadcast,the hop count is reduced by one. Thus, the redundant paths expire after6 hops or if the packet reaches the end of a particular branch. On thecorrect path, when node 500 receives the data packet is determines thatit is the correct recipient of the packet.

The proposed method reduces significantly the resource requirements fora typical network device that provides routing service for other devicesin the network, i.e. a router node. More specifically, the requiredrouting table size in a fully functional router is reduced to a staticnumber of bytes and the routing header packet overhead is reduced tostatic number of bytes. The routing table size is not dependent on thesize or topology of the network at all. Also the routing header size ina mesh routable packet is not dependent on the number of intermediatehops. Additionally the size of the routing header is almost static.Third major improvement from traditional routing methods is thereduction in the amount of routing and topology information that has tobe stored in a network access point.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a routing node 104. The node comprisesa protocol stack 604, a routing protocol component 606 and possibleapplication logic 602 that is application specific (e.g., a home orbuilding automation device function). The protocol stack 604 consists ofthe needed protocol layers for the network. Examples of possibleprotocol layers include User Datagram Protocol UDP, TCP, IPv6 6LoWPAN.The IEEE 802.15.4 Media Access Control+Physical Layer MAC+PHY is anexample of a network stack.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of an access point node 100. In at leastone disclosed embodiment, an access point consists of two networkinterfaces and corresponding network stacks 706, 708, a common layerbetween the stacks for forwarding 704 and a routing protocol component702. First protocol stack 706 is used to communicate with theconstrained network, for example using IPv6 6LoWPAN and an IEEE 802.15.4MAC+PHY. The other protocol stack 708 is used to communicate with anexternal network, for example, the Internet using IPv6 and Ethernet.

Physically, a routing node and an access node may be realized with oneor more processors, a memory operationally connected to the processor, apower source, and one or more transceivers or communication units. Thememory may store software executable by the one or more processors.

Disclosed embodiments may be realized as software in a node, an accesspoint, a computer or a set of computers connected to the Internet.

The software or computer programs may be in source code form, objectcode form, or in some intermediate form, and it may be stored in somesort of carrier, which may be any entity or device capable of carryingthe program. Such carriers include a record medium, computer memory,read-only memory, and software distribution package, for example.Depending on the processing power needed, the computer program may beexecuted in a single electronic digital controller or it may bedistributed amongst a number of controllers.

The software may comprise program steps which, when executed by one ormore processors, realize the two network interfaces and correspondingnetwork stacks, the common layer between the stacks for forwarding andthe routing protocol component of the access node and the protocolstack, the routing protocol component and the possible application logicof the routing node.

It will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that, as technologyadvances, the inventive concept can be implemented in various ways. Thedisclosed embodiments are not limited to the examples described abovebut may vary within the scope of the claims.

1.-30. (canceled)
 31. An apparatus in a first communication networkcomprising a set of apparatuses, the apparatus comprising: at least oneprocessor; and at least one memory storing computer program code andinformation on the number of child nodes of the apparatus, wherein theat least one memory and the computer program code are configured to,with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:control communication with apparatuses operationally connected to theapparatus by transmitting and receiving data packets, the data packetscomprising a recipient identification, a transmission directionindicator, and depending on the transmission direction indicator, a hopcount indicator, wherein the apparatus is configured to receive a datapacket; determine the transmission direction indicator of the datapacket; determine if the apparatus is the recipient of the data packetand process the packet if so; otherwise, if the transmission directionindicator equals a value corresponding to the direction down, determinewhether the hop count indicator equals zero and if so, discard the datapacket; otherwise, if the transmission direction indicator equals avalue corresponding to direction up, transmit the data packet;otherwise, reduce the hop count indicator by one; and if thetransmission direction indicator equals a value corresponding todirection down and the number of child nodes is larger than one,broadcast the data packet to all apparatuses operationally connected tothe apparatus, otherwise if the number of child nodes is one, transmitthe data packet to the child node.
 32. The apparatus of claim 31,wherein the apparatus is configured to transmit and receive data packetscomprising a transmission direction indicator having a value of twopossible values corresponding to direction up and direction down. 33.The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the data packets comprise a hop countindicator if the transmission direction indicator equals a valuecorresponding to direction down.
 34. The apparatus of claim 32, whereinthe apparatus is configured to, when transmitting a packet originatingfrom the apparatus, include in the packet: the recipient identificationfor the packet; the transmission direction indicator; and the hop countindicator if the transmission direction indicator equals a valuecorresponding to direction down.
 35. The apparatus of claim 31, whereinthe apparatus is configured to store information on apparatuses of acommunication network the apparatus is operationally connected to. 36.The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the apparatus is configured to storeinformation on one apparatus in the up transmission direction and up totwo apparatuses in down transmission direction.
 37. The apparatus ofclaim 31, wherein the apparatus is configured to register itself to thecommunication network by transmitting in the up transmission direction amessage comprising the identification of the apparatus, a lifetimeindicator and a transmission direction indicator equaling a valuecorresponding to direction up.
 38. The apparatus of claim 31, whereinthe apparatus is configured to broadcast a packet by setting, prior tothe transmission of a packet, the Medium Access Layer address to thedata packet to a broadcast value indicating the data packet is to bereceived by all apparatuses receiving the transmission.
 39. Theapparatus of claim 31, wherein the apparatus is configured tocommunicate wirelessly with at least one other apparatus of thecommunication network.
 40. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein theapparatus is a node in the communication network.
 41. A web servicesystem comprising one or more apparatuses in a first communicationnetwork comprising a set of apparatus, the apparatus comprising: atleast one processor, and at least one memory storing computer programcode and information on the number of child nodes of the apparatus,wherein, the at least one memory and the computer program code areconfigured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus atleast to: control communication with apparatuses operationally connectedto the apparatus by transmitting and receiving data packets, the datapackets comprising a recipient identification, a transmission directionindicator, and depending on the transmission direction indicator, a hopcount indicator, wherein the apparatus is configured to receive a datapacket; determine the transmission direction indicator of the datapacket; determine if the apparatus is the recipient of the data packetand process the packet if so; otherwise, if the transmission directionindicator equals a value corresponding to direction down, determinewhether the hop count indicator equals zero and if so, discard the datapacket; otherwise, if the transmission direction indicator equals avalue corresponding to direction up, transmit the data packet;otherwise, reduce the hop count indicator by one, and if thetransmission direction indicator equals a value corresponding todirection down and the number of child nodes is larger than one,broadcast the data packet to all apparatuses operationally connected tothe apparatus, otherwise if the number of child nodes is one, transmitthe data packet to the child node; and an apparatus in the firstcommunication network comprising a set of nodes, the apparatuscomprising: at least one processor, and at least one memory includingcomputer program code, the at least one memory and the computer programcode configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatusat least to perform: store information regarding nodes of thecommunication network; and when transmitting a data packet to adestination node in the communication network, determine and include inthe data packet the IPv6 address of the recipient; determine the branchof the destination node in the network; determine and include in thedata packet a hop count indicator indicating the number of node-to-nodehops to the destination node; set and include in the data packet thetransmission direction indicator equal to a value corresponding todirection down; and transmit the packet.
 42. A method in an apparatus,comprising: controlling communication with one or more apparatuses;transmitting and receiving data packets comprising a recipientidentification, a transmission direction indicator, and depending on thetransmission direction indicator, a hop count indicator; receiving adata packet; determine the transmission direction indicator of the datapacket; determining if the apparatus is the recipient of the data packetand process the packet if so; otherwise, if the transmission directionindicator equals a value corresponding to direction down, determiningwhether the hop count indicator equals zero and if so, discard the datapacket; otherwise, if the transmission direction indicator equals avalue corresponding to direction up, transmitting the data packet;otherwise, reducing the hop count indicator by one; and if thetransmission direction indicator equals a value corresponding todirection down and a number of child nodes of the apparatus is largerthan one, broadcasting the data packet to all apparatuses operationallyconnected to the apparatus, otherwise if the number of child nodes ofthe apparatus is one, transmit the data packet to the child node. 43.The method of claim 42 further comprising: transmitting and receivingdata packets comprising a transmission direction indicator having avalue of two possible values corresponding to direction up and directiondown.
 44. The method of claim 43 wherein the data packets comprise a hopcount indicator if the transmission direction indicator equals a valuecorresponding to direction down.
 45. The method of claim 43, furthercomprising: when transmitting a packet originating from the apparatus,including in the packet: the recipient identification for the packet;the transmission direction indicator; and the hop count indicator if thetransmission direction indicator equals a value corresponding todirection down.
 46. The method of claim 42 further comprising: storinginformation on apparatuses of a communication network the apparatus isoperationally connected to.
 47. The method of claim 46 furthercomprising: storing information on one apparatus in the up transmissiondirection and up to two apparatuses in down transmission direction. 48.The method of claim 42 further comprising: registering the apparatus tothe communication network by transmitting in the up transmissiondirection a message comprising the identification of the apparatus, alifetime indicator and a transmission direction indicator equaling avalue corresponding to direction up.
 49. The method of claim 42 furthercomprising: broadcasting a packet by setting, prior to the transmissionof a packet, the Medium Access Layer address to the data packet to abroadcast value indicating the data packet is to be received by allapparatuses receiving the transmission.